Comment on Battle of the Bands: Tech Firms Compete for Rock Stars

“She’s not Black. That’s what I heard. That she’s Indian,” 58-year-old singer and actress Janet Jackson, sister of the late global superstar Michael Jackson, recently said of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, repeating the untrue assertion that the Vice President has misrepresented her race/ethnicity. “Her father’s white. That’s what I was told,” Jackson said in an interview with the Guardian that was published on Saturday. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] “I mean, I haven’t watched the news in a few days,” she added.

Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign has received the endorsements of several pop stars—most recently, singers Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish threw their support behind the Vice President and Democratic nominee—but one particular chart-topper, whose feminist music and “Midwest Princess” aesthetic the meme-embracing Harris campaign has enthusiastically co-opted, has said she won’t be among them. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Chappell Roan, the 26-year-old “Good Luck, Babe!” singer from Missouri, told the Guardian in an interview published Friday that she’s not planning to endorse anyone ahead of the November election, saying that there are “problems on both sides.” The comment has divided social media users—some of whom have applauded her stance, others who have criticized her for being “cowardly” and accused her of false equivalence and failing to stand up for the LGBT community given the explicitly anti-queer agenda of Harris’ Republican opponent former President Donald Trump. [video id=rULD5nKs autostart="viewable"] “I have so many issues with our government in every way,” Roan told the Guardian.

Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo’s Suma Content (“La Mesías,” “Vestidas de Azul”) and Spanish platform Atresplayer have teamed on “Mariliendre,” a new fictional musical comedy series from creator Javier Ferreiro. “Mariliendre” was unveiled at FesTVal Vitoria earlier this month, and Variety has now been given exclusive access to the first international teaser for the show.

Johnny Depp’s “Modi, Three Days on the Wing of Madness” world premieres at the San Sebastian Film Festival this week, decades after Al Pacino, who brought the project to Depp, first saw a play that inspired the cinematic adaptation. An official synopsis for “Modi” reads: “A seventy-two-hour whirlwind in the life of bohemian artist Amedeo […]

Aiming to optimize and streamline the development and production of films and series in the international marketplace, Maquina, a new production entity comprising three companies, has launched at the 72nd San Sebastian Festival. Formed by three firms led by seasoned Chilean producers – Augusto Matte’s London-based Deptford Film, Úrsula Budnik’s Horamágica in Valdivia and Fernando […]

Chinese-produced drama film “Stand by Me” held on to top spot at the mainland China box office. Dreamworks Animation’s “The Wild Robot” enjoyed a modest third-place debut. After an almost imperceptible uplift provided a week earlier by the Mid Autumn Festival, mainland China’s theatrical business extended the slump that it has been in since the […]